The full-page ad paid for by the Natural Gas Industry printed in the July 3 edition of The Courier making a personal attack on Russellville Mayor Bill Eaton for his support of an increase in severance tax is a disgrace to the gas industry and an insult to all citizens of Arkansas.

It brings the greediness of the industry out of the shadows into the light of day. The gas industry seems to believe that we Arkansans are not capable of thinking for ourselves and can be fooled by hundreds of dollars of misleading advertisements.

I am surprised and disappointed that various Chambers of Commerce and the County Judges Association have swallowed their misleading propaganda. Have influential members of those groups spent too many hours on the golf courses with gas company executives?

The gas industry is trying to make you believe that 16,000 jobs will be lost in Arkansas if the modest tax increase is enacted. That is simply not true! Exploration will continue and besides, who will maintain the facilities already in place? Most of the 16,000 jobs are within the drilling industry. Obviously, when the drilling is completed, many jobs will be lost. But not because of the proposed tax increase.

The owners and operators of those wells are expecting to make billions of dollars profit from their explorations, and in time, they will, even with the proposed severance tax increase. Presently, there is plenty of gas to go around. However, the companies know that as time progresses, their prices can go up.

This gas is under the surface of the ground in Arkansas, and Arkansans are entitled to compensation for the use of this Arkansas resource. The modest severance tax proposal would only be a drop in the bucket within an increase in future gas prices, but the industry is unwilling to allow even this small increase, using the outrages scare tactic of a 400 percent tax increase.

This claim is the height of hypocrisy and when you analyze their claim, you should suspect any other claim made by the gas industry. Presently the industry enjoys a “new start” incentive of 1 1/2 percent. This is the basis for their claim. However, the present severance tax on proven good production wells is 5 percent. Therefore, the increase is only from 5-7 percent. A few low production wells enjoy an even lower rate, resulting in additional loss of revenue to Arkansas.

The industry is enjoying a severance rate that is far too low. A modest increase can repair highways, roads and streets destroyed by their heavy equipment. Occasionally, the industry will offer to help repair some destroyed county roads. However, what about the other roads, streets and highways? How soon will local and state governments ask for a tax increase from your pocket to repair these roads?

Dr. Charles Venus, a former member of the Governors Council of Economic Advisors, and a tax advisor to governors Rockefeller and Bumpers, did an analysis of the funds included in the proposed severance tax increase. His conclusion is that the proposed increase in money available for roads would create 6,200 direct new jobs and 9,300 indirect jobs.

Seventy-one percent of Arkansas gas is exported to other states. Since our residential gas comes from Oklahoma and Louisiana, no price increase should be passed on to Arkansas residents. Arkansas gas producers extract gas at a cost 17 percent below the national average, but Arkansas residents pay 19 percent above the national average for gas. Now that you realize that you are on the wrong end of the “shaft,” please tell every one you can that they should work for and vote for the severance tax increase.

It is a shame that some organizations are not willing to allow their constituents the right to enjoy the benefits of natural gas production within the state.

You'd have to look for quite some time to find a public servant more trustworthy than Bill Eaton. I don't have any problem trusting his judgement in most all matters.

It is my understanding that our county judge is currently engaged in commercial relationships with the gas industry. He might not be a good source for objective opinions in this case.

It is my understanding that the county should have been collecting five dollars per truck from the semi's that are injecting fracking fluid in to our ground water, and the only reason this is not happening is because the county judge must request it for the quorum courts vote.